About Me

Amanda:I've always had a love of cooking. As a teenager, when most of my friends were watching sitcoms, I was watching Food Network. I was always experimenting on my family with my "creations." Recently I have found a new passion in food. I now follow the principles of Weston A. Price Foundation, using Real Food when I cook. I've eliminated processed foods from my life. I don't use too many measurements when I cook, just a lot of love.

I have opened up this blog to my family and some friends, so there will be a lot of recipes to enjoy. As always, please leave comments, and suggestions. If you try one of our recipes, please let us know what you thought of it! To find out more about me, visit my personal blog here.

Contributing Cooks:

Julie:One of my wonderful sister-in-laws. Shes a great mom of two. She and I share a passion for food. One of her favorite weekend spots is to go hang out at the gourmet supermarket to take in the sights! You can visit her personal blog here.

Karen:My Momma. Yes, I'm almost 30 and call her Momma. She encouraged my love for food by helping me cook many dinners while I was growing up. I cooked spaghetti so many times, that to this day, we are both "tired" of it. But back then she never complained.

Jules:I met Jules in the blogsphere and fell in love with her blog, Far from the Sticks. Here is a little more about her in her own words: I grew up in the wilds of New Hampshire. After college I went in search of warmth and sun and ended up in San Diego. In Feb. '09 I moved to Ankara, Turkey with my fiance. Officially I am now an ex-pat. I am currently butchering Turkish in my attempt to learn it, but have had more success with the food. I pounce at any chance to try a new dish, and have few boundaries when it comes to what I won't eat. Through my exeriences I am learning the intricacies of a cuisine that varies from Mediterranean to Anatolian. Growing up I never imagined this particular adventure but nonetheless am excited for what is to come.

Recipes I want to try

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing

In my family the dressing is prized over the turkey. As a matter of fact we usually make the turkey to compliment the dressing. We need the turkey "juices" as my Mema calls them. Also, with the leftover turkey we'd chop it up and add it to the dressing and eat on it for days. Why days? Because we make a small bathtubs worth of dressing every year so that everyone in the family can have leftovers. The thing is, this recipe is simple and I totally get that it isn't for everyone, because one thing I've learned is that people like and want the dressing they grew up with. Here's our family version. This makes a big lasagna pan, for a smaller amount, half the recipe, we usually triple it at least! Oh, one other thing. I'll run this recipe by my Mema to make sure it gets the final stamp of approval!-Amanda

Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing

2 recipes of cornbread (Homemade, CornKit, whatever suits you)6 hard boiled eggs1 onion finely diced3 stalks of celery finely diced4 pieces of the whitest white bread you can findsalt & pepper to tasteground sage to tast 6-8 cups of liquid: which means as much turkey "stock/juice" as you can get your sticky fingers on (the gravy people in the family also fight for this high prized commodity!) Supplement turkey drippings with chicken STOCK (not broth) and water if you must.

A lot of recipes have you saute your veggies before you add them to the dressing, our family likes the crunch so we put the veggies in raw. So, dice up your onions, celery and the hard boiled eggs and set aside. In a very large mixing bowl crumble up your cornbread into various sized pieces. With the white bread, tear off small pieces and roll and crumble them between your fingers to evenly distribute throughout the cornbread. Add veggies and egg and mix well. Add salt and pepper. Add sage. Stirring everything in very well. Now you do a "dry" taste until the seasonings taste right. Add the liquids. Transfer to baking dishes and cook on 325 degrees until the top gets browned. It is important to taste every 10-15 minutes just to make "sure" the seasoning is correct. Also just as important to have multiple tasters available.

I can't say how long you bake it because other things are usually crowding the oven and the temp goes up and down depending on what else is in the oven. That is just a Thanksgiving issue!